BTW News Briefs

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Joins Battle for Free Speech

On October 26, Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, filed suit against the U.S. Treasury Department in federal court in New York because regulations of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) prohibit the publication of a book she wants to write about her life and her work for readers in the U.S. Ebadi and the Strothman Agency, LLC, a literary agency that wants to work with her, filed the suit that will be joined to a legal challenge mounted by publishers and authors last month. In her court filing, Ebadi decries the "enforced silence" the OFAC regulations impose, calling it "a critical missed opportunity both for Americans to learn more about my country and its people from a variety of Iranian voices and for a better understanding to be achieved between our two countries."

The regulations stem from U.S. trade sanctions imposed on particular countries. Congress has declared that trade embargoes may not be applied to "information and informational materials," but, according to the plaintiffs' press statement, OFAC has defied that prohibition and maintained regulations that specifically forbid the publication of works by authors in Iran, Cuba, and Sudan unless the works in question have already been completed before any American is involved. Violators are subject to prison sentences of up to 10 years or fines of up to $1,000,000 per violation. The regulations are being challenged as violations of the specific instructions of Congress as well as the First Amendment.

Children's Book Week Set for November 15 - 21

Children's Book Week -- a national celebration of the written word that is meant to introduce young people to new authors and ideas in schools, libraries, homes, and bookstores -- will be observed November 15 - 21. The theme for the 85th annual observance, which is sponsored by the Children's Book Council (CBC), is "Let's Book."

Through Children's Book Week, CBC encourages young people and their caregivers to discover the complexity of the world beyond their own experience through books. CBC produces an extensive list of online resources for celebrating Children's Book Week, which can be found at http://www.cbcbooks.org.

Lambda Literary Awards Nominations Sought

Nominations for the 2004 Lambda Literary Awards are now being accepted by the Lambda Literary Foundation. A juried award with a rigorous selection process, the "Lammy" recognizes excellence in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered publishing. This year, the awards will feature 22 categories, including new Debut Fiction categories, and winners will receive a $1,000 honorarium.

Nomination forms, which must be submitted by December 17, 2004, are available online at www.lambdalit.org/lammy.html.

Books in English published in the calendar year of 2004 and generally available in the U.S. are eligible for submission. Finalists will be officially announced on February 1, 2005. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in New York City on Thursday, June 2, 2005 (on the eve of BookExpo America).

For additional information regarding the awards or the nomination process, visit www.lambdalit.org.